Comment on “Synchronous records of pCO2 and Δ14C suggest rapid, ocean-derived pCO2 fluctuations at the onset of Younger Dryas” by Steinthorsdottir et al

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Köhler, Peter, Fischer, Hubertus, Schmitt, Jochen, Brook, Edward J., Marcott, Shaun A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Elsevier 2015
• Subjects: EPICA; ice core
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/36707/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/36707/2/revision_yd_co2.pdf; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379114003722; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.44476; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.44476.d002

Steinthorsdottir et al. (2014) used a previously published stomata-based CO2 record (Steinthorsdottir et al., 2013) to argue for a large, abrupt change in atmospheric carbon dioxide at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) cold interval. Their record implies a 50 ppm CO2 rise followed by a decline by 100 ppm. They compare their results to a hypothetical and highly unlikely simulation sce- nario in which vertical mixing in the ocean is increased by a factor of 100 and wind strength by a factor of 7. They furthermore compare their stomata-based CO2 record with the ice core CO2 re- cord derived from EPICA Dome C (EDC). We here question their interpretation.